The British government said on Friday (03.11.2022) that it may confiscate a luxury apartment bought for cash by a young woman linked to Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, under a new anti-dirty money law.
The economic crimes bill, whose path was speeded up through parliament after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, will expand and reduce the penalty for cases of “unexplained wealth” involving people who do not have a known legitimate source of income.
Lavrov’s supposed emotional partner
Executives claim that this may concern Polina Kovaleva, 26, the daughter of Svetlana Polyakova, who according to the press will be Lavrov’s long-term partner.
The UK’s foreign secretary, as well as President Vladimir Putin, were personally sanctioned following the invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Alleging their affair with him, Labor MP Chris Bryant has demanded that the two women be added to the sanctions list.
Controversial luxury apartment
Kovaleva bought the apartment in London in 2016 for 4.4 million pounds ($5.8 million, 5.2 million euros) without resorting to a mortgage, according to the Land Registry.
The apartment is not far from Kensington Palace belonging to Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich, whose UK assets have been frozen due to his ties to Putin.
Lavrov could have financed his family’s lifestyle and growing real estate portfolio with millions of dollars guardian. Kovaleva’s now-deleted Instagram account shows her relaxing on a yacht owned by Deripaska.
“His only source of money is his mother, who does not work and is said to be Lavrov’s unofficial wife,” Maria Bevchikh, an investigator at the anti-corruption foundation founded by Alexei Navalny, a jailed Russian dissident, said in a series of tweets.
“This is an excellent example of unexplained wealth. Property can now be confiscated legally,” he added.
Befshikh also presented a documentary film entitled “Yachts, bribes and a mistress. What Minister Lavrov is hiding” from last year, highlighting data on the life enjoyed in the British capital, the daughter-in-law of the Russian Foreign Minister and her mother.
Relationship with Lavrov
As mentioned guardianPolyakova, an actress and restaurateur, has been in a relationship with Lavrov since the early 2000s, and documents released by the institution show that she has been abroad with the Minister of Foreign Affairs more than 60 times, including at diplomatic missions.
Britain’s technology minister, Chris Phillip, on Friday told private broadcaster LBC that the executive was following the case closely and that an upcoming law would facilitate this type of punishment.
He said it would target “people who come to London, as in this case, and buy a £4m property without apparently having the means to do so”.
Philip also defended the government’s action in the Roman Abramovich case, after most MPs criticized the slow pace of sanctions against the Russian owner of Chelsea football club.
“These few Russians have very expensive lawyers. They are very contradictory,” he explained. “It was very important to make sure that this was done in a way that is completely indisputable and legally defensible,” he added.
Truss: Western Allies Should Do More
In Washington, Secretary of State Liz Truss said Thursday that Western allies should do more, including freezing all Russian banking assets and excluding Moscow from the Swift payment system entirely.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom and the United States have warned that Russia may be preparing a chemical weapons attack on Ukraine, under the guise of Operation False Flag, which blames Washington and Kiev. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman said Russia would receive a “strong” response in the event of a chemical attack.
FEW (AFP, guardian)
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